Twisting Paths of Fate
by Shadow Wraith
Summary: AU Kagome's aristocratic father makes an unfair decision for her and she runs away from home. But there's something not right with her heirloom necklace. Kinda takes place in Sengoku Jidai. Rated for Inu's mouth. IK SM R&R!
1. Chasing Freedom

Alright, this is my first fanfic, so don't be mean if it sucks. You can flame me, but I'll only accept constructive ones. Tell me what you think, ideas, corrections, random things, I'll accept pretty much anything. R&R please!

Twisting Paths of Fate 

Chasing Freedom

'As long as I hide my face, they won't find me. As long as I hide my face, they won't find me,' the teenage girl chanted over and over in her mind, clutching the hood of her cloak closer to her face with one white knuckled hand while the other held on tightly to the bag that contained her few possessions.

She made her way through the bustling streets of Kyuusei, making a point to stay on whichever one was the most crowded. The numerous amounts of people would offer good cover. Hopefully she could just blend in.

The city was over crowded with small kiosks and street vendors trying to sell their laughably over priced goods to whoever was naïve enough to listen and get sucked into buying junk from some fast talking merchant.

Many called to her, trying to swindle what of their cheap wares they could, but she paid them no heed. Her mind was dead set on one thing: getting out of this hellhole before her father found out that she was gone.

If he found out and somehow managed to get her back…

She shuddered at the thought.

Her focus was once again brought back to the real world, she picked up her pace, hunching over more and more so as to not be noticeable. 'As long as I hide my face, they won't find me…'

But still…she felt as though she was being followed.

She allowed herself to glance back for a second, but then immediately turned in front to avoid colliding with some unsuspecting person. She didn't recognize anyone in the vast crowd behind her…she was probably just being paranoid.

'Just hide your face, baka, and no one will find you!' she scolded herself mentally.

This continued for the next hour or so, same mantra, same pattern, same fear.

A wave of relief flooded through the weary girl as she spotted the exit gates of the city of Kyuusei, which led to the countryside; full of forests, tiny hidden villages, and youkai.

An involuntary shudder of fear shook her body as she considered being eaten by a ruthless, stupid, bloodthirsty monster.

'Stop that,' she scolded herself mentally, 'that won't happen. And even if it did, it's better than what I would have to do if I stayed here.'

She picked up her slow, tired trudge, willing herself to shake off her fear, determination and disgust powering her impatient strides to the towering gates looming several yards before her.

'How could he, my own father, do that to me? Imagine, just selling me off to the highest bidder, like I was a cow! And to think, I used to believe that he still loved me just a little bit! Well at least I know better now!'  she huffed.

Realizing that she was drifting off into her own little world, she forced herself to stop dwelling on what was soon to be the past, and to start paying attention to what her present surroundings.

She noticed that the crowds started to thin as she gradually made her way to the freedom that awaited just a little ways before her. Once again, she pulled her hood tighter to her face, hung her head low, and started the chant over in her head, 'As long as I hide my face, they won't find me.'

The mighty stone gates waited just a few feet ahead, almost daring her with their sheer size for her to turn back, 'As long as I hide my face they won't find me.'

She rushed through them, not letting the thought of retreat go any further in her mind, trying her best to not make any eye contact with the city guards, her hood shadowing her pale face.

Her cobalt eyes squeezed shut as she held her breath and prayed to the gods that she would go unnoticed.

And when she finally permitted herself to open her eyes, she was greeted with a beautiful scene of what was outside the walls of the city. Green grass rolled over hills while there was a wood, maybe a forest, over to her right where the road led directly into.

She was out! She was free! She lessened her grip on her hood, but kept up her pace until she was under the cover of the nearby wood that the dirt road ran through.

Finally able to relax, she pulled back her hood and shook out her long raven hair, falling past her waist in slight waves.  She lifted her arms up into a cat-like stretch as she reveled in her new-found freedom, 'I'm finally free! No more anxiety! No more fear!' she couldn't help but smile wide at her next thought, 'And now I don't have to marry-'

"Higurashi-sama?" inquired a cold, nearly mocking voice behind her.

'Oh crap,' she froze, the smile was replaced by a look of pure dread as her face drained of all color. She recognized the voice of one of her father's servants instantly.

"Hiten," she barely managed to whisper out as her voice nearly broke.

"I have been sent by your father, and a certain someone, to bring you back," he stated smugly, "I hope I will not need to use force."

'No,' she thought desperately, 'No! This can't happen! I won't let it happen!' 

No.

No!

"No!" she cried and started a full sprint without even turning around.

'Stupid girl, thinks she can escape,' he started to run right after her.

 After only a few minutes, she could tell he was quickly gaining, 'I've got to do something!'

But nothing could be done. All she could do was keep running. Keep praying.

He was mere inches from her now, he lunged to try and tackle her. She saw it coming and leapt out of the way with renewed determination, pumping her legs harder.

That's when she heard a thump behind her, with a low groan of "Dammit." She grinned, but continued to run.

Hiten saw her rapidly diminishing form as he struggled to get up, "Dammit!" he cried out again. Oh well, maybe this was for the better. He would let her feel safe for the time being, letting her think that she had lost him. Maybe she would get cocky. She would have to stop eventually to rest; and when she did he would find her and bring her back.

He let out a quiet, sinister sound that resembled a chuckle, 'Higurashi Kagome, you have no idea what you have just gotten yourself into.'

With this thought, he strode down the road at a leisurely pace, whistling a lively tune.

~~~~~o~~~~~O~~~~~o~~~~~

AN:

Hey! Guess what! I re-did it! Moonlight Shadow, you were right! It really did need more description! I can't believe I even posted it! But then again I was dead tired so…*shrug* Thanks! Oh, and it's 7/27/03 at 1:38 AM! Yeah, I know, I have no life…

Not that great, I know. Kinda cliché…. I'll probably redo it. But I got back from missions trip just a couple of hours ago, and I'm beat, so yeah…I hope you like it, tell me what you honestly think! Oh, random thing here, I found out that one of our pastors talks in his sleep and his wife overheard him a few nights ago. At the habitat for humanity site, he worked us really hard, and his nickname was 'Slave Driver'. Well, what he said in his sleep was something along the lines of, "I said pick up that power tool and build that table! Yes, it's hot, we're all hot; it's not just you! No! You can't take a break! I know you're sorry, it's okay, we forgive you. Remember, we're all one in Christ." I'm sorry, but it was SO funny when she told us that! Heeheehee, okay, I'm done now! R&R por favor! Kudasai! Ummm…ease-pla?  Ahhhhhhh….ummmmm…as Tenacious P.T. says, "Wuhtevuh!"


	2. What She Never Expected

Oh my gosh!!!! Seven people reviewed! Yay! *Does a little happy dance*That's seven more than I thought would get! I expected everyone to blow me off, but they didn't! I'm so happy! *Huggles reviewers* Thank you! ^^

And I redid the first chapter, you know, added a bit to it; I just hope it loaded…I don't really know how to use this quite yet and am wingin' it and have been VERY lucky so far!

         Correct me on anything; characters, weapons, powers, personalities, heck I'd even take grammar and spelling!

Oh, and I forgot this on the last chapter:

Disclaimer: sadly, I don't own Inuyasha. If I did, I would make him dump that frickin' zombie kikyou and he and Kagome would be all happy! And kikyou would burn in hell! Eheheheheh…*ahem* 

And just in case you haven't figured this out yet:

"…" = talking

'…'= thinking

~o~O~o~= scene change

~*~*~= dream or flashback

*****= end

Twisting Paths of Fate What She Never Expected 

'Doesn't this road cross into ANY villages?' Kagome let out a frustrated sigh, it was hours after her little run in with Hiten.

How long had she been walking? Seven, maybe eight hours? It was no small wonder that her feet hadn't fallen off yet with such abuse. It had taken at least half the day to navigate and leave Kyuusei. All that she knew was that she need to find a place to stay before Hiten could catch up to her, and that the sun ws starting to dip lower in the sky. She couldn't even see it anymore, the tree branches had concealed it for quite a while.  But she estimated that it would be at least three hours until sunset

The only way that she knew it wasn't all the way set was the bright blue of the sky high above. She thought that she could see dark clouds to the west through the spreading limbs of the tall trees. She only hoped that the reason that they were so dark was the late afternoon shadows, and not an impending storm.

Suddenly she realized that there was a dull ache in her stomach. She hadn't eaten since a small breakfast that morning, which was two hours or so before dawn. She had been so preoccupied with running from Hiten and keeping an eye out for anything remotely along the lines of a youkai that she had completely forgotten about eating.

A small break wouldn't put her in danger, and she was at least and hour ahead of Hiten. Probably more like two or three.

Sighing, she made her way over to the side of the dusty road, where she sat down, leaning against a tree. She opened the small bundle that she kept her belongings in, and broke off part of the small loaf of bread she had brought. Her eyes immediately landed on a rather full satchel; she closed them in guilt.

'I have absolutely no reason to feel guilty. After all, that money was paid for me, so I should be the one to do what I please with it,' she, once again, rationalized to herself, not believing a single thought. She broke off another piece of bread, trying to force her mind off the subject.

Why did her father have to send Hiten, of all people, after her? The guy gave her a bad feeling, there was just something not right about him…

Then again, she felt that way about most of the servants in her father's house, how strange…

These thoughts gently lulled her to the soft oblivion of sleep.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"Kagome, I want you to keep this safe. Make sure no one finds it," she whispered, handing her six-year-old daughter the necklace. She sat at the side of her daughter's futon; it was well past midnight, all the servants were dead asleep in their quarters, she had made sure to drug their sake, and her husband would return from a business trip early in the morning. She was pressed for time. 

"Not even Daddy?" Kagome asked, eyes wide with curious innocence. She started to examine the small necklace; it was of simple design, almost rosary-like, hanging off of it was a small ball wrapped in sutras.

_"Not even Daddy. And don't ever remove the sealing charms on that ball understand?"_

_"I understand, but why, mommy?"_

_"Because, if you did, then many bad people would come after it. And if one of them got a hold of it, then they would become very powerful."_

_"And lots of bad things would happen?"_

_"Yes, Kagome, they would do many evil things. But if something happens, anything at all, and you need to get away from here, then go to the Higurashi shrine. Your grandpa is there; it's far away, to the west and the north, but you should be safe there."_

_"Okay, mommy. I love you."_

_"I love you too, never forget that." She planted a small kiss on the top of her daughter's head and hugged her tight; she knew that this would be, more than likely, the last time she ever saw her daughter, unless, by some odd twist of fate, their paths happened to cross again. She got up from the side of the futon and made her way to the door._

_"Mommy?"_

_"Yes, Kagome?" she was paused in the process of sliding open the shouji._

_"Is this dangerous?" she held up the necklace._

_"Yes, I'm afraid it is very dangerous." There was such an ominous and foreboding tone in her quiet response._

_"Then why are you giving it to me?" Kagome's small voice was scared and confused._

_She gave her daughter a small, sad, yet still hopeful grin, "Because you're the last place they would think to look for it, little one."_

_The shouji slid closed, and the distraught mother put her face in her hands, despair and regret etched into her weary voice, "Oh Kami-sama, what have I just done?_

~o~O~o~

_That afternoon, Kagome, dressed in a black kimono, stood with her father, her mother's side of the family, and her mother's servants, watching a priest, also wearing black, lower her mother's ashes into the small family cemetery. There was snow everywhere, making the entire scene look like a hallucination, dreamlike, not real._

_Oh how she wished it wasn't real._

_Yet another tear slid down her face as she silently fidgeted with the last gift her mother gave her inside of her kimono sleeve, where no one could see it. He breath came out in small clouds, that slowly glided and curved away with the wind, and quickly disappearing into the air, vanishing. Just like her mother had._

_"I'll make you proud, mommy. I'll keep it safe, I promise." She quietly whispered to herself as she stared into the gray winter sky above._

_"I promise…"_

_Then everything faded into blackness, and she was enveloped by warmth._

_Such a kind warmth, like the embrace of a friend long lost._

_The whispered words, "Keep it safe…I love you… never forget that…" echoed from everywhere._

_Whatever she had been standing on gave way and she was tumbling, falling through oblivion. Suddenly, a gigantic shaft of pure white light manifested itself in front of her, floating in the middle was the necklace her mother had given her years ago._

_She literally flew to it, stretching, reaching out her fingers to grasp the sutra-covered orb. As she was nearly there, her fingers just millimeters away, she heard her mother's voice again only louder and more commanding, desperate, "Keep it safe!" and the sutras yellowed then floated away like dead autumn leaves to reveal a pale pink gem, perfectly round, glowing with a rose aura of it's own power._

_And for just a moment, everything was still._

_Then the column exploded outwards, she lost sight of the ball; the blinding light reflected from every direction._

_Covering her._

_Nothing could be seen_

_She couldn't breathe._

*~*~*~*~*~*

Kagome gasped awake, grabbing the chain around her neck. She sighed with relief when her fingers found the sutra-covered orb, hidden beneath the folds of her yukata.

She leaned back against the tree. She had fallen asleep, it was just a dream.

Why? Why did she have to dream of that? Why that night? And the funeral?

Especially the funeral.

She had been told when she woke up the next morning that a burglar had attempted to break into the house, and that her mother had valiantly tried to stop him; she had succeeded, but had died in the process.

She doubted that was the true story. No, scratch that, she flat out didn't believe it.

What about that last part? It didn't make any sense.

She let the ball drop onto her kimono, the large green and white squares were damp from the mist of the heavy evening fog.

Evening? How long had she bee asleep?

The small red obi seemed to be almost too tight as her gasping and ragged breaths slowly evened out, but she did nothing about it.

It was a miracle in itself that she had been able to keep the necklace a secret for so long, she had never taken it off since the day of the funeral, always somehow managing to keep it hidden from sight.

She glanced at the small orb again and closed her eyes, only to slam them back open and stare in panic at the ball lying on her chest.

The normally white paper sutras that always seemed as though time held no sway over, were now crinkled and yellowed, they looked as if they were several decades old.'

'How could they have aged that fast? This is like what happened in the dream…'

This couldn't be good, something was terribly wrong.

If the sutras fell off, then that would mean there would be no end to trouble for her.

"Oh no," that was the only thing she managed whisper to before a cold, familiar voice greeted her.

"Hello Kagome-sama. Nice to see you again."

This was not happening.

She started to berate herself for being stupid enough to fall asleep.

"Now if, you would come with me," Hiten's eyes fell upon the satchel of money, perhaps flattery would have an affect on the girl, "So that's where it went. Your father was quite worried," his eyes met hers again.

"After all, that money is worth the equivalent of ten thousand golden toris. That's more than the price of a prime war stallion would be sold at from the royal stables. That gentleman must have thought quite highly of you to pay such and extensive amount of money. I'm sure you'll be very happy with him."

She had looked him strait in the eye the entire time, while she had slowly and silently rolled up her bundle. She was going to have to run, again.

"Hiten, I'm never going back. And absolutely nothing you can say will persuade me otherwise."

"So, goodbye!" she abruptly stood up and tried to dash past him.

But he had been expecting this, and jumped in front of her, "The only place you're going is back to Kyuusie! I was given orders to bring you back no matter what!" he sprang forward.

She dodged to the side, "Too bad!" little bits of aged paper floated in her wake, exposing the pale pink surface beneath the sealing charms.

It seemed to glow with a small strange aura.

Her eyes widened as se stared down at it, 'Just like in the dream,' then looked up to man in front of her.

Hiten stopped dead in his tracks, "Th-that's the Shikon no Tama!" he stared at it wide eyed, his body tense and rigid, "Give it to me, there's no reason for you to have it,"

She cautiously took a step backwards, then another, until there was a good distance between them; more of the decaying paper floated to the ground.

"I said give it to me!" he shouted. His brown eyes were starting to take a crazed reddish hue.

"No," she croaked out, 'What am I going to do? Oh Kami-sama help me!' 

"Look, if you give that to me, I'll let you go. And you won't ever have to worry about being followed, okay?" he was shaking, trying his best to constrain himself; his now-red eyes never straying once from the glowing pink orb dangling from her neck. Sweat dripped down the side of his face, his breathing had become ragged.

She would have immediately agreed to that and thrown the necklace at him and run for all she was worth, if her mother's words weren't echoing through her mind, _"Keep it safe…"_

Then her own voice, _"I'll make you proud, mommy. I'll keep it safe, I promise…"_

'I can't let him have it. Who knows what he might do? It's obviously got some kind of power,' her courage went up a few notches at this thought.

"No," her voice had a new confidence to it

As if on cue, sudden gust of wind shook off the last of the remaining sutra off of the jewel. And the full sight of it was too much to bear for Hiten, 

"Fine," the word came out like a deep, decisive growl. He tensed and crouched into a fighting stance, looking as though he were a coiled snake about to strike. His pupils became slits, almost catlike, and his eyes were a bright blood red. His fingers ended in frightening sharp claws, long and deadly; and his ears were becoming pointed. Bits of electricity ran over his skin at random intervals.

That's when her mind fully realized what was happening. She lost all of the courage she had before, confidence shattered. Her eyes grew wide in terror.

"You-you're a-a" she couldn't get the word out, her throat felt as though something was blocking it.

"A youkai?"

She nodded mutely, her face pale.

His face twisted into a sick sadistic grin, "Yes, what a smart little girl. Too bad, you won't live to see tomorrow!" 

That's when he leapt at her with inhuman speed, claws tensed and ready to tear into her flesh.

She barely managed to dodge out of the way, sprinting like mad in the opposite direction.

He jumped with ease in front of her again, "What's the matter, _Kagome_?" the way he had said her name made it sound as though it were a twisted, taunting insult, "Afraid of a lowly servant?" he leered at her. 

She backed away from him, eyes wide with fright, until she tripped over a stone and scrambled away from him, until she was backed against a tree.

He didn't follow, but stood with his glare trailing her trembling form, "You damn humans forced us into hiding, made us cover up what we are," he started to walk towards her with that sick grin, a crazed glare in his eyes, " But with that jewel, we could put you filthy, pathetic wastes of life back in your place. And then you would be the ones that are in hiding."

 He was standing right in front of her now, his gleaming psychotic eyes boring into hers with an accusing glare.

Then a look of pure hatred took the place of the twisted smile, "Prepare to die, bitch!"

He raised a clawed hand, lightning sparking around it.

The next few moments were a blur to Kagome.

His hand came down to strike, tongues of electricity eagerly licking outwards for the taste of human blood.

She feebly lifted her arm up to block the attack; eyes squeezed shut, braced for the worse.

Then there was a flash of light. A searing pain beyond words. A tortured inhuman scream.

Then nothing.

**************

AN: Oops, would that be considered a cliffhanger? I'm not quite sure, oh well, thanks for being patient! First I was grounded from the computer (my dad caught me on it at midnight, which was an hour after he told me to get off) then the day after my last day of punishment we went to Galveston for four days, and then we came back and I finally finished the chapter! Yay!

And does anyone know what Kyuusei means? Yes, I know what it means but do any of you know what it means?

Sorry if Hiten's a lil' OOC, and I was too lazy to go back and read exactly what his powers were, so I'll just say I took creative license.

And I give a big thank you to Mary, Sadistic Shadow, Shortee, Moonlight Shadow4, Kitty Katana (if you need a rabid squirrel, there are plenty around here; I could probably use a good whacking!) Animeart2, and Me (haha, love the name!)

I'm probably going to go back and redo this later, it seems a bit rushed to me, but my neck is killing me right now.

You know what to do! Just press the lil' button! Ja ne minna-san!


	3. Plots and Safe Havens

Hey! I'm back! Ummmm….sorry? At least Inuyasha is finally introduced to the story in this chapter, the f-bomb will most definitely be dropped from here on out….*smiles nervously* Once again, sorry? Ack! *Grabs rabid squirrel from Kitty Katana* Bad Shadow Wraith! *whack* Bad! *whack* Bad! *whack* Bad! *whack* Shadow Wraith must punish herself for being lazy! *whackwhackwhackwhackwhack* *delirious laughter* eheheheheheheheheheheheheh…and the lil' birdies go tweet tweet…. 

 Disclaimer: The lawyers hate me, they're hired by you, I don't own Inuyasha, so you can't sue! ^.^;; (yeah, I know that sucks) 

Oh! Kitty Katana gets a cookie for getting the question right! The definitions I found were former city, former home, and former nest.

I'M SORRY, PLEASE FORGIVE MEEEEEE!!!!!

*WHACK*

*thump*

Twisting Paths of Fate

Plots and Safe Havens

The room was dark, and the whispers seemed to echo in the tense silence as rain pounded on the roof, leaking upon those gathered below.

         "Alright, so all you morons know what to do?" he asked as quietly as possible in his normal indifferently gruff voice; though no matter how hard he tried, they could all easily hear the shaking nervousness in his mask of confident arrogance.

The brat spoke up, "Yeah, first I'll create an illusionary monster, then you'll grab the keys, after that Shiori," he glanced at the silver haired girl, "will create an invisible barrier while we unlock ourselves. And then Tanuki will transform, and we'll all fly away…Never to return! Hahaha!" his voice had grown in volume.

A hand instantly clamped over the child's mouth; there were near-silent rounds of,  "Be quiet!" and, "You're going to get us in trouble!" and of course the expected, "Shut the fuck up, brat!" from the black haired 'teenager' who practically held the fox-boy in a death grip.

After a few minutes, a small, gentle hand was placed on his shoulder, "Um, Inuyasha?" Shiori asked in her timid voice.

He paid full attention to the little girl, forgetting about throttling the annoying kitsune, whose face was starting to turn a lovely shade of blue, "Yes?"

He didn't know why he respected the young girl so much, maybe it was because she was the only other person who knew what it was like to not be accepted anywhere you go, to never fit in, to be taunted and teased without mercy, to hear the whispers of the villagers whenever you came within twenty feet of their children. Things like, "Oh no! Get the children away from there, he'll attack them, kill them!" even when you're barely seven years old. To be kicked, have things thrown at you by total strangers, just because of what you are. She knew all of that, to be accused of things you didn't even know of, to be called so many names and to be scorned time and time again. To be a hanyou.

He brought himself out of his ponderings and memories to look at the small girl again.

"Inuyasha, what am I going to do once we're free?" 

Confusion was evident in his violet eyes, "What do you mean, 'What am I going to do'? You're going to go back to your village and your mother, that's what you're going to do."

"But I can't-"

"Well why the hell not?"

"Because she's dead," her eyes remained near emotionless, except for their almost imperceptible change in color, darkening a few shades.

He merely nodded in understanding, easily hiding his shock; no one was to ever speak of either their past or capture, a simple unspoken rule, to do so would reveal one's weakness.

"Alright then, Tanuki?"

The racoon-dog was brought out of his stunned stupor, "Yes?"

"You will take care of Shiori, right?" it really wasn't much of a question.

"Yes, of course! It would be a pleasure!" he smiled kindly at the little girl, she gave him a small smile of gratitude back.

"Oi, Inuyasha?" Shippou asked, he was sitting a good distance away from the hanyou, rubbing his neck.

"Yeah, brat?"

"What are you going to do about the Tetsusaiga?"

"Get it back, of course,"

"How?"

Inuyasha stared at the twerp for a moment before saying, "You ask too many questions." 

'That means 'I don't know',' Shippou thought to himself, a small sweat drop formed the side of his head.

~o~O~o~

So bright. Too bright. Her eyes couldn't even open against the intensity of the glaring light that streamed through the open window.

She rolled onto her stomach, aching slightly, and curled her arms around her head to block out the cursed sun. She didn't want to wake up, not yet.

She had been having such a funny, if not odd, dream, too…

*~*~*~*~*~*

_ She had been laughing her head off for the past five minutes at a child with the legs and tail of a fox who was being chased around by a rather irate blur of red and white. The fox-child had been frantically yelling, "'Sit' him, Kagome! 'Sit' him! 'SIT' HIM!!!!!! AAAAAHHH HELP MEEEE!!!!!!" he had evidently done something to the blur's face, but it was moving too fast for her to tell what. The fox-boy could certainly run quite fast for such a little guy…_

_Once she had finally gotten a hold of herself, she told the child, "Sorry, you got yourself into this one! You have to find a way out!" she started to smirk, trying to keep it in, but failed miserably as she burst out laughing, but her laughter didn't continue for long._

_"Oi, wench!" a gruff voice interrupted her mirth._

_The red and white figure was standing quite a distance away, arms crossed over his chest, she saw the child disappear into the surrounding forest, "You sick or something? You just gave up a perfect chance to, once again, 'sit' me into oblivion!" he began to walk towards her._

_She was about to respond, when there was a sudden resounding cry of, "Hentai!"_

_Of course, she turned to the source of the angry cry; the sight she saw would stick in her mind for years! There was that lecherous houshi, pinned to the ground by a huge flaming cat, and there was a girl with long ebony hair standing over him and beating him senseless with a…a…gigantic boomerang? She was very angry, saying something like, "You're right, Inoyushi, he really is a bouzu! Stupid hentai!"_

_Sighing, she turned back to her thoroughly confused friend, slightly startled to see that he was standing right in front of her._

_She caught the full sight of his face, which was covered in a dark, greenish black paint, another small smile formed on her lips._

_"What were you going to say, wench?" he was trying his best to cover up his suspicious curiosity with his insult _

_"Well, you see, I kind of think that he deserves a bit of punishment, because," she stopped to stifle a giggle._

_"Because what?"_

_"Because it'll take two weeks for that to come off, at least,"_

_"WHAT?!?!?!?!"_

*~*~*~*~*~*

Inoyushi's reaction was hilar-

Hold on, that wasn't the name it was…Inayesho? Iniyushu? Inoyoishe? That wasn't it either, it was something else….

Oh well, at least it wasn't as bad as that one dream where she turned into a piece of tofu and a giant mouth chased her through the house, then she got to her room and the futon came alive and defended her, and then it got drunk on sake…that was just weird…

'Ah, whatever, it was just a dream… No more eating mass amounts of oden before bed,' she told herself, the dream slipping out of her mind and memory.

         She finally forced herself up off the futon, still groggy. Her arms and legs were stiff and sore, they felt as though they hadn't been used in days. She was hit with a sudden wave of dizziness when she tried to stand up, her head pounding. She lowered herself back onto the futon and lay there until the room stopped spinning.

         Once again, she made herself get up, only slower. Although her head still hurt when she was finally standing, there was only a minimal amount of dizziness.

         'I must be sick, I'll have to ask Urasue for one of her healing brews,' she unconsciously shuddered at the thought. The cook of the house not only acted strange and gave her a bad feeling, but she looked like one of the fabled mountain hags, an oni.

Letting out a small cough and squinting against the unwelcome brightness, she walked towards the wall where her door was and put out a hand to slide it back. Only it wasn't there.

         Confused by this, she turned back around to look at the small room. Her futon shouldn't be there, it should be by the wall on the left, and a dressing screen should be in the corner, but there wasn't one in the small room at all. The shouji was plain, instead of having scenes of flowers painted onto the small squares of paper. Wait a minute, that wasn't her futon…and why was her kimono folded next to it?

'This isn't my room, what happened? Why am I here? Where is here anyways?' looking down, she saw that she was in a plain sleeping robe, her right arm was heavily bandaged, 'And more importantly, who undressed me?'

Just then, the shouji slid open and she saw a tray full of medical supplies slowly come around the corner, it was rather low to the ground. Then she saw that a rather hairy hand was holding it up, although it didn't look quite human. Followed by the hand was a wrist that was so covered by hair that she could've sworn it was fur, then a forearm, elbow, upper arm, and then she finally saw the face it was-

'A monkey?!' she could only stare at the animal, thinking that she was delirious, and it stared back. This continued for several seconds, until she went into a rather sudden and loud coughing fit, scaring the creature out of its wits. It dropped the tray with a clatter, sending its items rolling across the floor, and went screeching and screaming down the hall, which only added to Kagome's pounding headache as she continued her fit.

"Hiyoshimaru! What's wrong with you?" she barely heard a feminine voice shout down the hall, Kagome was now doubled over trying to gasp for air in between coughs.

"Oh my, you're awake! What are you doing out of bed?!" Kagome felt an arm go around her back and a hand grasp onto her elbow, then she was gently being led back to the futon.

"You are in absolutely no condition to be walking around yet," she heard the voice say sternly, "Now sit back down. There you go," she was deposited back onto the futon.

Out of her peripheral vision, Kagome could barely see a figure hurry back over to the shouji and scramble to grab a few items before heading back towards her. She could here the sound of liquid being poured; her coughs were not as bad as before.

"Drink this, it will help," a cup was forced into her right hand as her left covered her mouth. Quickly, she moved her hand away to pour the substance into her mouth. It took all of her will power to swallow the foul tasting brew. (AN: imagine combining Nyquil, Dayquil, Robitussin, and Aunt Bertha's liquidated spinach surprise, with a hint of lemon and that's what you get!)

Apparently, the face that she made was enough to get a light hearted laugh out of her caretaker, "It may taste bad, but it's better than not breathing, ne?"

Kagome could only nod and gasp for air, after she had finally regained breath, she looked up to the person beside her, to see that she had long, staight, jet black hair, pulled back at her neck, the length nearly rivaled her own, which was well past her waist; she was wearing a nice kimono.

 "Who're you?" she managed to croak out.

The young woman smiled, "I'm Takeda Tsuyu. You had us quite worried for a while, your fever was pretty high," she pushed Kagome back on the futon, "And you need as much rest as possible." (AN: they never say what Tsuyu's last name is, so I just took the land that she's originally from: Takeda)

"What happened? Where am I?" she couldn't remember a thing.

"You're at my house, and you've been here for a little more than three days-"

"Three days!" Kagome screeched out hoarsely, "How did I get here?!"

"Well if you'll just be patient I'll tell you. So are you ready to listen now?"

The ill girl simply nodded and pulled the covers up around herself.

"Good. This is as much as my husband and I know: he was out a few days ago after a heavy rainstorm, Hiyoshimaru, the monkey you saw earlier, was with him. They were headed towards the creek to catch toads," Kagome gave a her an odd look, and Tsuyu chuckled, "That will be explained later. Anyways, as I was saying, while they were at the river, Hiyoshimaru suddenly started screeching and ran though the forest towards the road. And, of course, my husband followed after him. Well, when they got to the road, they found you lying there. You were soaked to the bone, nearly covered in a mud puddle, and you had several strange looking burn marks up and down your right arm. So he brought you here and I've been taking care of you since then."

"Burns…." Kagome quietly muttered to herself, there was something nagging at the corners of her mind, but what? And that didn't help her understand what she was doing out in the middle of nowhere in the first place either.

"What did you just say?" Tsuyu inquired.

"Oh, just thinking out loud, that's all," She barely managed to force out; her voice was growing more and more hoarse.

"Oh, um…I'm sorry, but you haven't told me your name yet, what is it?"

"Higurashi Kagome," she suddenly shivered and pulled the blankets around her tighter.

Tsuyu leaned over to feel her forehead, "Your fever still hasn't broken, you need your sleep. I'll come back later with some food for you. Now rest," she instructed sternly.

"Yes, Tsuyu-sa-" she was interrupted by another cough.

Tsuyu smiled kindly, sighed and got up to gather what remained on the floor.

Kagome closed her eyes and was instantly engulfed by the blissful oblivion of sleep.

*********

Yay! I'm sorry if this really stinks but there has just been so much going on that I just wanted to get this posted, I'll go over it later.

If you read this, then I expect you to review it, it's only polite, and thank you to the people that did!

Remember, I'll take anything, even flames, correct me on anything! And I'll even take completely random quotes, poems, short jokes, favorite vegetables, anything! I'm an odd, random person…

Quote O' The Day:

'Isn't making a smoking section in a restaurant just like making a peeing section in a swimming pool?'

~D.E. Couch 

Ja ne minna-san


	4. Hopes

OMG!!! I AM SORRY BEYOND ALL WORDS!!!! I've been grounded from the computer for nearly six weeks! And I'm still grounded and should be working on a report over the CCC!!! My parentshave me grounded from everything imaginable! They seriously said that they had run out of punishment ideas, that I had no life, and that they are seriously thinking about making me go to social events and football games as punishment! I've a 'wee bit' naughty lately (_ _) B) heeheeheeheehee…Anyways, I'm rambling, again, so now onto…

…the disclaimer! I do not own Inuyasha, but I do own this fic, and there's nuttin' you can do about it! So there! Ha! *lawyers crawl back into shadows* That's right! Crawl! Crawl! Back to the depths of which you came! Hahahaha! Uh… *ahem* eheheheh, ah…

Twisting Paths of Fate

Hopes

There it was, a perfectly round orb radiating an aura of rose. The sweet purity of it giving off a sense of calm contentment, but peace was soon to be shattered.

 Around it, a soulless, black abyss was closing in, closer now, swirling like phantom mists from the dreams of those who live within the shadows, fearing the light. Slowly, the nauseatingly cold darkness started to turn the jewel black, an ill omen of chaos to come.

When it was completely engulfed within the nothingness, she could only stare in sheer horror at the once bright crystalline orb, an overwhelming sense of dread and panic was emitted from the bejeweled embodiment of demonic power.

She screamed.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"Kagome! Kagome-chan, wake up!" Tsuyu was gently shaking Kagome to the waking world.

"Ah! Get away from…Tsuyu-sama?"

"It was just a dream, Kagome-chan, and please, call me Tsuyu." She gently smiled at the young girl.

"The jewel! Where's the jewel?" her tone was panicked, eyes wide in fear.

"Oh you mean that necklace you had earlier?" an unfamiliar male voice responded.

Kagome looked to the open shouji, and saw a young man that looked to be a little older than Tsuyu standing there.

"I put that away so that Hiyoshimaru wouldn't steal it, he tends to like shiny things. I'll go get it now," he smiled and turned to walk down the hall, where a few seconds later, there was a loud crash and a thump.

"Are you okay?" Tsuyu called out.

"Yeah, I just don't remember a wall being there…"

Kagome looked over questioningly at Tsuyu, "That would be my husband, Nobunaga, he's a bit, um…"  

"Clumsy?" Kagome offered.

"I guess that's one way of putting it," Tsuyu replied with a sheepish grin and a few sweat drops.

Nobunaga appeared in the open door way, "Here it is, and look who I found sitting by the cabinet it was in," he held up a rather large toad.

"Tsukimo! What are you doing outside of your cage?" Tsuyu cooed to the oversized amphibian from where she sat on the floor next to the futon. 

Kagome was looking at them as though they had both grown an extra head or two.

"You see Kagome, we raise toads and frogs, then sell them to people as a way to get unwanted bugs out of their house," Nobunaga explained as he handed her the necklace, "And Tsukimo is kind of like our good luck toad, I'll go put him in his cage now."

            "Ah, that explains it," Kagome nodded as she put the rosary-like chain around her neck. Nobunaga quietly left the room.

"You have your voice back!" Tsuyu exclaimed, feeling her forehead, "And your fever's broken! Do you think you can stand up?"

"Yeah, I don't feel nearly as bad as I did before!" she smiled and quickly got to her feet.

"If you want to change, your kimono is right here, it's been washed, and here's the bundle we found with you," Tsuyu patted the clothes lying next to the futon.

"I'll let you have your privacy," the young woman began to walk towards the open shouji, "I'm guessing that you want something to eat, ne?" 

Kagome smiled as she picked up her clothes, "Yes, thank you very much."

"You're welcome, dear. The kitchen is down the hall." She said as she slid the shouji close.

The younger girl sighed as she began to get in to her kimono, a look a worry spread across he face; she now remembered what had happened with Hiten, and why she had run away.

~o~O~o~

In the far off distance, Inuyasha could see the walls of the city of Meguriai, one of the places he loathed the most.

The city's economy thrived off of merchants, who he swore were the most vile, greedy, scheming, annoying people ever to be walk the planet. All in all, they really pissed him off.

He bitterly thought of the main goods sold and traded in those vast markets of insanity: cloths, metal works ranging from jewelry to almost any type of weaponry imaginable, livestock, and, finally, slaves, the most common of which were hanyous and weak youkai.

He glared down at his all too human hands, shackles clanging around his wrists; beneath his red, tattered haori, his arms were littered with old scars. One lone, chainless shackle was firmly clasped around his left ankle, rusted from fifty years of use, the entire reason he was here; it seemed to grow heavier as he thought of his curse. It would always remain there, there was only one person who could take it off, and there was no way in the seven hells that she would ever do that. That's where he hoped that fucking bitch was right now, dead and burning in the worst level of hell, for making him like this, for betraying him.

He growled and forced his glare up to the pompous bastard riding horseback in front of the small procession of slaves and guards. His 'master' was, once again, attempting to sell his more troublesome slaves, namely Inuyasha, 'Feh, like that's ever going to happen.' 

Tanuki and Shippou were being sold because, well, they were more trouble than they were worth, and just plain annoying. But Shiori was being sold because she couldn't control her powers; she would sometimes blank out for no apparent reason, then her pupils became yellow slits, bat wings emerging form her back, her fangs and claws would grow long and deadly sharp. The young girl would then go on a killing rampage, many servants had been lost to her insanity, the only one who could ever bring her back to her senses was, surprisingly enough, Inuyasha, and that could take hours.

He heard the young girl stumble and fall somewhere behind him, she was then kicked by one of the guards, "Get up you filthy brat!" 

She kept silent and rose to her feet, trudging along the still-muddy road, the storm had lasted for nearly two days..

He let out a held breath as she continued on without any hindrance; the Blood Pearl had not been found. Without that, she would not be able to create barriers, and they would not be able to escape.

His 'master's' horse stopped, Inuyasha had not realized how late it was; the sun was setting in the west.

"We will rest here for the night," the pompous bastard announced, "We shall reach Meguriai tomorrow."

Inuyasha looked back to his fellow slaves, Shippou looked as though he were asleep on his feet, Tanuki, as usual, was looking around nervously, constantly fidgeting with his chains, Shiori was sitting against a tree, looking off into the sunset.

Tomorrow, they would all be free.

~o~O~o~

"So that's why I ran away," Kagome, Tsuyu, and Nobunaga were sitting around the low table, eating dinner, "Then I got attacked by a youkai, but it decided, for some odd reason, to leave me for dead in stead of eating me, and I woke up, and I was here," she hated lying to people, but the truth was just too weird.

Tsuyu nodded in sympathy, "I see why you ran away, I guess that means you have to keep moving, lest your father tries to find you. Do you know where you're going?"

"I'm trying to get to the Higurashi shrine, do either of you have any idea where that is?"

They both shook their heads, Nobunaga's face brightened a little, "I have not heard of that particular shrine, but there is a well traveled miko at the oboe shrine, perhaps she might know where it is." (AN: oboe is pronounced oh-boh-eh, not oh-boh like the instrument, sorry, just had to say that ^_^;;)

"Thank you, I'll try there, where is it?"

"It's a bit of a ways away. First, continue to take the road north until you reach the city of Meguriai, that should only take three hours or so. Make your way through it, now that might take a little while because it is very large and extremely crowded, more like a maze than a city, you'll be there perhaps a day or so. Once you're out, keep going on with the road, it should eventually lead you to her village. Though it'll take a little more than a week and a half, if you ride a horse at a gallop practically nonstop the entire time"

"And if I walk?" Kagome cringed as she waited for the answer.

"Anywhere from two and a half to three and a half weeks, sorry," he grinned sheepishly.

She sighed, "Alright, well I guess I should go to bed now, I have a lot of walking to do in the morning."

 "Are you sure you can do that much, after all, you only woke up today…" Tsuyu trailed off in a kind voice.

"I feel fine, I think I was asleep so long because I was so stressed out and emotionally worn out, I'll see you in the morning. Thank you, again," she gave them both a bright smile.

"Goodnight Kagome-chan,"  

"Goodnight, Tsuyu, goodnight, Nobunaga-san," Kagome called as she walked to her designated room.

~o~O~o~

Inuyasha woke up with the sun; the cursed city loomed on the horizon draped in the shadows of the dawn, only an hour or so away.

By tomorrow, everything would just be a mere memory.

~o~O~o~

Kagome awoke from the realm of sleep and dreams when Tsuyu gently shook her, "Time for breakfast Kagoome-chan," 

She yawned and stretched out her back, "Alright, I'll be there in a minute,"

"Kagome-chan, I was thinking, you're father is looking for you, correct?"

She nodded as she rubbed some sleep out of her eyes.

"And the only way he can find you is by physical appearances, right?"

"Yeah…"

"So what if we cut your hair? Give you some bangs, cut it to just below your shoulders or so, what do you think?"

Kagome just stared at Tsuyu.

"Err, bad idea?" the older girl asked, a few sweat drops forming.

"No…It's a great idea! I haven't had a haircut for nearly ten years! I was always too afraid!"

"You were afraid to get a haircut?"

"Yeah, you see, the servants at my father's house are, well, a bit odd to say the least. There's this one, her name is Yura, who would always bug me until I gave my cut pieces of hair to her," Kagome made a slightly disgusted face, "She collects it. And then there's this other one, Manten, who would yell at me for being so thoughtless to cut it off, he's naturally bald, and still fairly young too. So I just stopped cutting it and they left me alone."

Tsuyu giggled, "Let's cut it after breakfast then,"

~o~O~o~

Kagome stood in front of the Takeda's house, bidding goodbye to Nobunaga and Tsuyu.

"Are you absolutely sure that you don't want us to take you at least to Meguriai?" Nobunaga asked, once again.

"Yes, I'll be fine, and I don't want either of you drawn into this anymore than you have been already. Thank you, for everything," she smiled at them.

"Alright, if you're sure, Kagome-chan," Tsuyu leaned over to give the girl a quick hug.

Kagome sighed, "I had better get going, thank you, again, for all the trouble you had to go through."

"It wasn't a problem at all.," Tsuyu protested, "Now you start on your way, before you waste too much time."

The teenager pushed her new bangs out of her eyes, "Yes, I suppose so, goodbye,"

"Goodbye, Kagome, may Kami protect you," Nobunaga grinned slightly.

She nodded, a warm smile of thanks spread over he face. With one final farewell, she turned down the road, determination and confidence firmly set upon her features.

Once she had disappeared form view, Nobunaga and Tsuyu went back to the house. An aura of hope lingered over the house.

However…

~o~O~o~

"Honey, have you seen Tsukimo?" Tsuyu asked as she stared at the empty cage.

"No, is he gone again? I swear that toad is too smart to be an animal," Nobunaga sighed

"We had better start looking for him before he dries out," the two immediately began searching the house.

~o~O~o~

…nobody had noticed the exceptionally large amphibian hop after the girl with a fixated interest.

**************

Well, are your questions answered? I'll get the next chapter out ASAP! Once again, I'm REALLY sorry! I will update 'Are You Happy Now?' updated and the fake ending to that 'How It Could Have Happened' reloaded ASAP, I'm turning it into a songfic, it will be so much better!

I'll edit this later, review please!


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